Fallout
by DirtyKnight
Summary: This story is set in an alternate universe of the Harry Potter series that will focus on the developing relationship between Ron Weasley and Lavender Brown and the disintegrating relationship between Ron and Harry and Hermione.
1. Chapter 1

(Author's Note: This story is set in an alternate universe of the Harry Potter series that will focus on the developing relationship between Ron Weasley and Lavender Brown and the disintegrating relationship between Ron and Harry and Hermione. While I do love getting feedback (both good and bad) I do ask that when you provide it, please be polite and respectful. Our story begins in Goblet of Fire where Parvati has just told Harry she is going to ask her sister Padem if she'll go with Ron and Harry is running to tell Ron the news.

Harry came over to where Ron was sitting. "How would you feel about going to the ball with Padme?"

"Huh?" asked Ron.

"Parvati is going to ask Padme if she will go with you," said Harry, hoping Ron would be happy. However, he was surprised to see that Ron looked furious. "Something the matter?"

"No," said Ron. "I just need to go for a little walk. I'll see you later, Harry." Ron exited the portrait hole. Harry watched him go, wondering what was going on.

The next morning as Harry was entering the Great Hall, Parvati came walking up. "Harry, Padme just told me she can't go with Ron because she's going with Javier Roux."

"Who?" asked Harry.

"He's one of the Beauxbatons students," said Parvati. "He's extremely handsome. You will tell Ron, won't you?"

"Yes," said Harry.

Harry entered the Great Hall and found Ron sitting at the breakfast table with a rowdy group of second years. "Morning Ron," said Harry. Ron gave him the side eye and after giving a gruff morning, made his way out before Harry could sit down. Harry watched him go as Hermione came walking up. "Do you know what's wrong with Ron?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" asked Harry.

"He only had a bowl of cornflakes for breakfast," said Hermione. "When has Ron just stopped at a bowl of cornflakes?"

"I don't know," said Harry.

"Has he found a date to the dance?" asked Hermione.

"I don't know," said Harry. "I tried to set him up with Padme, but she's going with someone else."

Harry noticed Hermione was doing her best not to smile. "Well I'm sure he'll find someone. I'll see you later Harry."

"See you," said Harry as he watched her go.

For the next three weeks Ron did everything he could to ignore Harry and Hermione. He even went as far as to stop having Hermione help him with his homework. "I wonder what's going on with him," said Harry as he and Hermione walked during their after lunch free period.

"Well I hope he gets out of it soon," said Hermione as the two entered the courtyard. They found Javier and Padme talking. "Hello Padme," said Harry.

"Oh hi Harry," said Padme as Javier got up and whispered into Padme's ear. She giggled and he kissed her cheek before walking off. "He's funny."

"Yes," said Harry as Hermione looked like someone had gotten sick in front of her. "How did you two meet?"

"Ron introduced us," said Padme.

Hermione dropped her bag. "He what?"

"I was heading down to dinner and I saw Ron come walking over with Javier and he said 'Padme, This is my good friend Javier and he wants to ask you to the dance,' and I of course said yes because I had been waiting for him to ask me," said Padme. "Ron also told me that you wanted him to go with me, but that he didn't want to stand in the way of true love."

"I bet he didn't," said Harry as Padme looked at her watch.

"I've got to be getting to class," said Padme. "I'll see you Harry."

"See you," said Harry.

That evening Harry came up the staircase and found Ron getting ready for bed. "Hello Ron," said Harry. "I know why you've been avoiding me."

"You do?" asked Ron.

"If you didn't want to go with Padme, why didn't you just tell me?" asked Harry.

"Because I didn't want an argument," said Ron. "I also didn't appreciate you trying to get a date for me. I can ask girls on my own."

"I was only trying to help," said Harry.

"Well let me fight my own battles," said Ron.

"Why don't you want to go to the ball?" asked Harry.

"Because of my dress robes," said Ron. "What girl wants to go with someone who's dressed like he's from the eighteen nineties?"

"I'm sure Padme wouldn't have cared," said Harry.

"I'm sure she would," said Ron.

"So are you going to the ball?" asked Harry.

"No," said Ron. "I'm going to sit in the common room, drink butter beer, and catch up on Martin Miggs."

"I hope you have fun," said Harry.

"I will," said Ron.

Finally the night of the Yule Ball arrived. Harry was in the common Room in his dress robes waiting for Parvati to come down while Ron sat on the back of an armchair wearing jeans and a tank top. "Excited?" asked Ron.

"Nervous," said Harry.

"You're going to have fun," said Ron as Parvati came down the stairs clad in her dress robes.

"How do I look?" asked Parvati.

"Beautiful," said Harry.

"And you look handsome," said Parvati. "Ready to go?"

"Yes," said Harry. "See you later Ron."

"Yes, see you Ron," said Parvati.

"Have a good time," said Ron as he sat down in front of the fire.

An hour later Ron was finishing up on Martin's adventures in Brazil when the portrait door opened and Lavender Brown came in. Ron noticed her robes had a large stain on the front of the, "Hello Lavender," said Ron. "How are you?"

"Awful," said Lavender, happy she had someone to rant to. "Seamous Finnigan is a complete jackass. I can't believe I said yes when he asked me to the dance."

"Oh?" asked Ron as Lavender sat down in the armchair next to him.

"First he spills his Goulash on me because Dean told him the girls from Beauxbaton wasn't wearing any underwear," said Lavender. "And then he didn't even dance with me, he went off for some girl from Beauxbatons."

"Didn't anyone else want to dance with you?" asked Ron.

"No," said Lavender. "Everyone had a partner. So I decided to turn in early. I'm glad someone else is here."

"Same," said Ron. "Chocolate Frog?" he asked.

"Thanks," said Lavender. "So why didn't you go to the dance?"

"Oh my mother got me awful dress robes," said Ron.

"Why?" asked Lavender.

"Because there wasn't enough money to get me proper ones," said Ron.

"That's awful," said Lavender.

"Yeah," said Ron. "That and I didn't really have the spine to ask anyone out. Though I was able to ask someone out for some else."

"Who?" asked Lavender.

"Padme and Javier," said Ron. "He was worse than I was at being nervous, so I helped him get the girl he wanted."

"That is so sweet of you," said Lavender. "They were really dancing it up when I left.

"Yeah," said Ron. "I try to be sweet."

At midnight the ball came to an end and Hermione and Harry walked back to the common room. Hermione and Krum had danced the night away as well as snuck off to do some kissing under the moonlight, but Harry had had less of a success with his date. Parvati had caught him looking at Cho for most of the night and on the final dance, Harry had torn her dress robes, causing her to give him a black eye and storm out in fury. "Well I'm glad it was a good evening," said Hermione as she and Harry approached the common room. "Viktor invited me to visit his family this summer."

"Sounds like fun," said Harry.

"Do you think Ron is awake?" asked Hermione.

"He's probably gone to bed," said Harry.

"Well I suppose it's for the best," said Hermione. "Fairylights," she said.

"Yes," said the Fat Lady. The Portrait opened and Harry and Hermione stepped in.

As they entered Harry saw the sight of Ron and Lavender making out on the floor. "RON!" screamed Hermione.

"Hullo," said Ron as he and Lavender unlocked

"What are you doing with her?" asked Hermione.

"We're kissing," said Lavender. "And I was just getting ready to fulfill a request he made?"

"What's that?" asked Harry as Hermione started shaking with rage.

"I was getting ready to show him my anus," said Lavender as Hermione exploded.

"Why are you with this cow?" she asked as she charged towards Ron. "I've helped your lazy arse with your homework!"

She charged forward to hit him, but Lavender was too quick for her. Lavender knocked her to the ground. "Come on Ron," said Lavender. "Let's go for a walk."

She and Ron left as Hermione got up and started crying. "What's the matter?" asked Harry.

"It didn't work," she said.

"What didn't work?" asked Harry.

"I was trying to make him jealous by going with Krum," said Hermione. "I, I didn't think he would go with with _her. _I'll see you tomorrow Harry."

Hermione ran up to her room crying. Harry headed up to his room, hoping things would be right the next day.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning Harry woke up and found that Ron had got up and left. He got up and dressed and made his way down to the common room. As he arrived, he found Colin Creevey sitting by the fire place reading one of Ron's discarded Martin Miggs comics. "Hiya Harry," said Colin.

"Hello Colin," said Harry. "Have you seen Ron?"

"Yes, he and Lavender just left for the great hall," said Colin.

"Oh," said Harry. "Has Hermione come down yet?"

"She did," said Colin . "She's in the hospital wing."

"What's she doing there?" asked Harry

"She tried to hex Lavender, said Colin. But Ron sent her hex back and it caused her to get burns all over her face. Dennis and I had to take her to the hospital wing. They're both still there."

"Why's Dennis there?" asked Harry.

"Hermione hexed him when he told Madame Pomfrey how she got the burns on her face," said Colin. "Do you know why she's so mad at Lavender and Ron?"

"I have a pretty good idea," said Harry. "I'll see you later Colin."

"See you," said Colin.

As Harry headed out of the common room, he saw the Gryffindor Hour glass and saw that the house points, which had been at three hundred the previous day was now at ten. Harry quickly ran through the corridors towards the Hospital wing. "Potter!" yelled a voice. Harry turned around and saw Professor Snape walking towards him.

"Yes?" asked Harry

"Where are you going?" asked Professor Snape.

"I was going to the hospital wing to see Hermione," said Harry

"I suggest you go to the Great Hall," said Snape. "We're dealing with a situation there right now."?

"What is it?" asked Harry.

"Minus ten points for arguing with a professor," said Snape. "Now go to breakfast before I give you a detention."

Harry turned and headed off to the Great Hall. As he arrived, he found Ron surrounded by Dean, Neville, Lavender and Parvati as he was telling dirty story about a Polish Wizard that was causing them all to howl with laughter. "Where did you hear this?" asked Dean as he wiped tears of laughter from his eyes.

"I made it up ," said Ron as he saw Harry walking up. "Well look who it is, the man of the hour," said Ron. "How are you doing, Harry?"

"Ron, I'd like to speak with you" said Harry.

"About what?" asked Ron.

"In private," said Harry.

"Okay," said Ron. "I'll be back"

"We'll be waiting," said Lavender as she kissed him.

Ron got up and followed Harry out. "What do you want to talk about asked Ron?"

"You and Hermione," said Harry. "Did you have to send the hex back?"

"If she hadn't tried to use that burn hex on Lavender, I wouldn't have had to repel it," said Ron. "Besides, she has her beloved Vickie, why can't she leave me alone?"

"Because she doesn't think Lavender is a good girl for you," said Harry.

"Who'd she rather have?" asked Ron.

"You," said Harry.

"Thanks, but no thanks," said Ron.

"Ron," said Harry as he tried to keep his temper in check. "Do you mean to tell me that you would rather have goofy Lavender Brown who loves Divination over Hermione who is the smartest witch we know and is quite brave and calm?"

Who's the one who had to be reminded she could use magic to start a fire when we went after the philosopher's stone?" asked Ron. "I don't think it was Lavender."

"Well she's smarter than you'll ever be," said Harry as he finally lost his temper.

"Are you calling me stupid?" asked Ron

"Yes," said Harry as Professor McGonagall came running up. "Something the matter Professor?" asked Harry.

"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "Mr. Weasley go back to the Great Hall. Mr. Potter come with me, the Headmaster wants to see you. "

Ron gave Harry a look and headed back into the Great Hall.

Harry followed Professor McGonagall to the headmaster's office. He had never seen her move that fast. "Professor, what's going on?" he asked

"We've had a breach of security," said Professor McGonagall. "The Headmaster will tell you more when we get to his office."

Harry and Professor McGonagall arrived at the staircase. After Professor McGongall gave the password Acid Pops, Harry and Professor McGonagall made their way into the office. Inside, Harry was surprised to find Professor Dumbledore and a shaken Draco Malfoy. "What's going on?" asked Harry

"Mr. Malfoy here has just earned himself an award for special services to the school," said Dumbledore. "Though I doubt he planned it that way."

Malfoy didn't even speak, instead he took another swig from his bottle of butter beer. "What did he do?" asked Harry.

"He caught an imposter," said Dumbledore. "The man we have thought to be Professor Moody was really Barty Crouch Junior who was using Polyjuice potion/ The real Allister Moody was found in his trunk and is now in the hospital wing.

"Where's Barty Crouch Junior?" asked Harry.

"He is no longer with us," said Dumbledore. "The spell Mr. Malfoy used on him interacted negatively with the polyjuice potion and caused Barty Crouch Junior's organs to fail all at once as well as cause the polyjuice potion to wear off, causing him to go back to his original form. Now," he said as he looked over at Profess McGonagall. "Minerva, please take Mr. Malfoy to the hospital wing. He needs a calming draught."

"Right," said Professor McGonagall. She helped Draco, who looked like he had been through a tough battle.

"How did he defeat Barty Crouch Junior?" asked Harry.

"By a lucky coincidence," said Dumbledore. "After the Ferret incident, Draco decided to get revenge. He heard from a sixth year that Moody was always going to Snape's office in the early morning. So Draco decided to plan his revenge. He taught himself Occulmency and he also taught himself how to use a leathal non-verbal spell."

"What spell is that?" asked Harry

"Quod ignis aeternus," said Dumbledore. "It's a spell that was used by a few death eaters to show off their style. The spell causes the victim's insides to catch fire and the victim burns from the inside out, with the killing being painful. The only real difficulty is the spell has to be performed non-verbally.

So Draco did it this morning asked Harry.

"He did," said Dumbledore "And due to Barty Crouch Junior having Polyjuice potion in his system, the spell caused his blood and internal organs to be violently expelled from his various orifices and the polyjuicfe potion to fail resulting in him changing back to his usual forms. We also found out that he was the one responsible for bewitching the goblet of fire and had he lived longer, was going to turn the Triwizard cup into a portkey to get you to a meeting of Death Eaters for the purpose of bringing Voldemort back to life."

"Oh," said Harry.

"However, I do have some good news," said Dumbledore. "The rules of the triwizard tournament state that should the head of the school be killed or become incapacitated in someway, the student has the ability to drop out of the tournament. Since Barty Crouch made himself the master of the fourth school that you didn't know you were attending, you no longer have to compete in the Triwizard tournament."

"Okay," said Harry.

Dumbledore reached into the desk. "To make up for the fact that you no longer will be competing Professor McGonagall and I have decided to exempt you from the final exams this year and give you a hundred Galleons."

"Thank you sir," said Harry as Dumbledore pulled out a stack of money.

"Spend them well," he said.

Harry walked back to the Gryffindor Common Room. As he walked, he found Padma and Javier in the courtyard. Javier was rubbing his foot on the ground. "What's going on?" asked Harry.

"There was a beetle walking over here," said Padma. "Javier squashed it for me."

"I don't want any bug hurting my lady," he said.

"Well that's good," said Harry.

He continued walking as he saw an angry Lavender Brown approaching him. "Harry Potter," she said.

"Yes?" Harry asked.

"Tell Hermione Granger that if she doesn't stop transfiguring things into spiders in front of Ron, I'll do worse than making her break out in boils."

"Where's Ron?" asked Harry.

"In the hospital wing with a cracked skull," said Lavender. "The bitch caused him to fall down a staircase because she transfigured a paper into a spider."

"I'll talk with her," said Harry.

Harry walked to the dormitory, as he did, he saw Krum walking out of the portrait. Harry kept to the shadows as Krum left. Then he made his way through the hole after giving the password.

Inside he found Hermione in a much more cheerful mood. "Viktor was here," she said.

"What happened to your boils?" asked Harry.

"Madame Pomfrey got rid of them in a minute," said Hermione. "They had to turn Lavender away because she tried to attack me."

"Well you transfigured something into a spider," said Harry. "You know Ron doesn't like them."

"Well he deserves it," said Hermione. She looked at the bag. "What's in there?"

"My consolation prize to drop out of the Triwizard tournament," said Harry. "I also don't have to take the exams this year."

"Well I'm glad you're no longer a part of it," said Hermione.

"Yeah," said Harry as he wondered how the year was going to go on.


End file.
